Sunscreens And UV - Filters Being Used In Cosmetics

by Dolly K. Digital Marketing Executive

Cosmetics in India are officially defined as something that is rubbed, poured, sprayed or sprinkled on or introduced into or is applied on the human body for cleaning, enhancing beauty or increasing the attractiveness. Sometimes it is also used for changing the appearance and involves anything that is intended for being used as a component of the cosmetic.

Nowadays, cosmetics such as sunscreens have gained high popularity because of their extra benefits rather than beautification. In the Indian market, one can either get a simple sunscreen or it can come mixed with cosmetics like skincare, lip care or hair care. These products fall under the category of cosmetics and have to abide by the cosmetic regulatory compliance.

Sunscreens and UV filters used in cosmetics assist you in getting protection from the dangerous ultraviolet rays of the sun. It works in two ways, one by light scattering and another way by reflecting the rays away from your body. Some such products absorb the UV rays even before they touch your skin.

A few years ago, selecting the right sunscreen was to look for such a product with good sun protection factor(the rate at which the sunscreen protects against the UV rays). Nowadays new broad-spectrum sunscreens are used that give protection against both UVA and UVB rays. Some of the important ingredients present in these creams are benzophenones, cinnamates, sulisobenzone, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, avobenzone and ecamsule.

The sun protection factor with 15 or more is good for UVB protection. Let’s understand this with an example. For instance, if you’d normally get a sunburn in 10 minutes then an SPF 15(multiplies by a factor of 15) protects you for 150 minutes straight from a sunburn.

Although SPF 15 is good for most people, fair-skin people and individuals with skin cancer and other such conditions like lupus that are more sensitive to the sun must consider sunscreens with SPF 30 or more.

Coming to UVB protection, there exists no rating and one has to look at the ingredients. A sunscreen with ingredients like ecamsule, avobenzone, oxybenzone, zinc oxide will do the trick.

Furthermore, water-resistant sunscreens can offer protection against sunburns while spending time in water. The SPF can be maintained till 40 minutes in the water with such creams.

Now coming to filters, all sunscreens and UV protection creams have filters that either reflects or even absorbs the UV rays. These filters can be organic or inorganic. Organic filters help in absorbing the UV radiation and then convert it into a small amount of heat. Whereas, inorganic filters reflect and then scatter the UV radiation.

With the increasing awareness among the Indian population for getting protection from the harmful UVA as well as UVB rays, there exists a tremendous market potential for sunscreen related cosmetics.